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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25874164">Marauder</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/melimarron/pseuds/melimarron'>melimarron</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Canon-Compliant, Crack, F/M, Gen, Look I Tried My Best, Remus Lupin POV, also angst, but like..., i wrote this in like an hour so do not expect high quality writing, this was just gonna be crack and then my brain decided that it was gonna throw in a dash of angst so, whoops?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:55:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,684</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25874164</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/melimarron/pseuds/melimarron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus Lupin contemplates how the Marauders got their name in the ruins of Godric's Hollow.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black &amp; Remus Lupin &amp; Peter Pettigrew &amp; James Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Marauder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>According to www.collinsdictionary.com, "If you describe a group of people or animals as marauders, you mean they are unpleasant and dangerous, because they wander around looking for opportunities to steal or kill".<br/>So this is what happened because of that "unpleasant and dangerous" part.<br/>Be forewarned: I wrote this in an hour.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>THEN:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before the first day of sixth year, Remus Lupin had never seen the value in naming one’s friend group. It seemed, to him, like an unbearably arrogant or stupid thing to do- and anyway, there was no point in doing it if nobody was going to call you it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Also, there had been a group of Ravenclaws who had insisted on being called The Limitless Lords for some reason for three months in second year and they </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> hadn’t lived it down. Remus had no desire to be as ridiculed as those Ravenclaws had been.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it seemed that James and Sirius had different plans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need a name,” James declared, collapsing into a seat once they’d boarded the Hogwarts Express. “We need a calling card.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we don’t,” Remus said immediately.</span>
</p><p><span>“Come on!” James pleaded. “Sirius, back me up!”</span><span><br/>
</span> <span>Sirius, sitting next to James, leaned forward, closer to Peter and Remus. “We’re almost seventh years, right?”</span></p><p>
  <span>“Right,” Peter said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And we want to be well-known, even after we leave, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t really care,” Remus said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the same time, Peter said, “Right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So! We need a name by the end of the year so we can leave an impression! We need people to look back on our misdeeds and say, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I want to be just like them!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re not exactly role models,” Remus pointed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Remus, you are literally a prefect,” Sirius said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Point taken.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need a name,” James said. “By the end of the year. That’s our mission!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Next to Remus, Peter grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus sank back into his seat.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Over the first few weeks of sixth year, names were considered, then discarded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Gang? Too unremarkable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Sixth Year Gryffindor Boys? Too specific.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Werewolves? Too on the nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Animagi? Too broad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Order of the Phoenix But Like Way Cooler? Might get them sued by the Headmaster for copyright infringement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a few weeks of fruitless brainstorming, Peter came up with the plan to bring the whole school into it, to test out names on them and discard them if they sounded too stupid coming from another person’s mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would pay all the Galleons I have to watch Snivellous or McGonagall call us the Werewolves with a straight face,” Sirius sniggered. “Let’s do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That sounds like a bad idea,” Remus said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>brilliant</span>
  </em>
  <span> idea,” James declared, slapping Sirius on the back. “Why don’t we start with...”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>The next day, there was a poster attached to the Gryffindor common room board. It read:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>ATTENTION, GRYFFINDORS:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>MESSERS. JAMES POTTER, SIRIUS BLACK, PETER PETTIGREW, AND REMUS LUPIN HAVE DECIDED THAT THEY NEED A GOOD NAME FOR THEIR FRIEND GROUP.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>FOR THE NEXT WEEK, THEY WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF EVERYONE IN GRYFFINDOR WERE TO REFER TO THEM AS </span>
  <em>
    <span>THE COOL KIDS’ CLUB</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>THEY WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF THIS INFORMATION STAYED WITHIN THE CONFINES OF GRYFFINDOR HOUSE.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>THANK YOU, AND GO GRYFFINDOR!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Upon seeing the poster, Lily Evans laughed aloud, said, “Oh Merlin,” and left the common room immediately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that was, perhaps, where things started to snowball.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>“Are you seriously calling yourselves the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Cool Kids Club?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Greta Catchlove demanded, stepping in front of Sirius on the way to Astronomy class.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go away, Catchlove,” Sirius said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only for the week,” Remus said. “Then we’re changing it. It’s not a great name, is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Greta said, with a grin on her face. “No, keep calling yourself that- it’s bloody </span>
  <em>
    <span>brilliant</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She flounced away, cackling to herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius blinked after her. “Well, if Catchlove thinks it’s a good name-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter squinted at Catchlove’s retreating figure. “I’m pretty sure she was making fun of us, mate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What makes you say that?” Sirius asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Peter said uncomfortably, “she was laughing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Right.”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>The next name they tried is The Anti-Slytherin League, but that just got them a bunch of requests to join them by fellow Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then they tried out The Unnamed Group, which earned them less snickers than the Cool Kids Club, but James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all decided two days into the week that it was a lousy name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They change their name again, and again, and again. By Christmas, Remus was pretty sure there was a bet on for how long they were going to take to decide their new name. He didn’t blame them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was about halfway through January that an anonymous vandalizer (Lily Evans) decided to take matters into her own hands, and vandalized their poster so that it declared their name to be The Idiots, instead of their current name of The Most Intelligent People In This School.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Funnily enough, it’s “The Idiots” that sticks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>James recognized the handwriting immediately and took the poster down as soon as possible. Remus was ninety percent sure that James ended up tucking it away safely in his trunk, next to their nearly-completed Map of the school.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At lunch that day, James called a team meeting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look,” James said, steepling his fingers in front of him “Is the name </span>
  <em>
    <span>The Idiots</span>
  </em>
  <span> so bad, really?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Sirius, Remus, and Peter hissed in unison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you really want Snivellious to call us that?” Sirius demanded. “Do you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>James considered that. “She’s paying </span>
  <em>
    <span>attention</span>
  </em>
  <span> to me, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s calling you an idiot, James,” Sirius said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a step-up from arrogant toerag,” Peter pointed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>James gave Peter an ugly look. “Thanks,” he sniped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We are not going to call ourselves The Idiots, and that’s final,” Remus said. “I’m using my Prefect authority.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perfects barely have any authority!” Sirius said, and the discussion quickly devolved into an argument over how much power a prefect really had over the other students.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Somewhat surprisingly (though Remus, looking back on sixth year later on in life when he’s alone and in pain and longing for brighter days, will never admit to being surprised), it’s Lily who gives them their name after Easter Break.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lily had explained why she’d called them the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Marauders</span>
  </em>
  <span>, years later, with a baby Harry in Remus’ arms, a war hanging over their heads, and a prophecy about to begin. Apparently, she’d been going through a dictionary over spring break to figure out how she could call her sister’s fiance an “ugly old cad” in the longest words she could find. She’d come across the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>marauder</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and it had stuck in her mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’d earned their name when James, as usual, attempted to ask Lily out, and, as usual, it backfired. Spectacularly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would never go out with anything </span>
  <em>
    <span>like</span>
  </em>
  <span> you, you goddamn </span>
  <em>
    <span>Marauder!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Lily snapped, and stormed away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>James stared after her, a crease in his brow. He didn’t say anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus laid a careful hand on his shoulder. “You alright, mate?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marauder,” James said, rolling the word around in his mouth. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Marauder</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It’s perfect.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For what?” Remus said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Our name.” James turned to Remus with a brilliant smile. “We’re the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Marauders!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Seventh year was harsh, in a way none of the others were before. There was no time for silly names, no time for crushes to fester, no time to worry about tests or homework, because Voldemort was there to fight a war and the Order needed all the soldiers it could get.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus became an agent of the Order of the Phoenix alongside his best friends and some classmates. They vowed to become soldiers at the age of seventeen, and then they were thrown back into school and homework, like those </span>
  <em>
    <span>mattered</span>
  </em>
  <span> when there was a powerful lunatic terrorist out there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus watched them slowly fall apart under the pressure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sirius became even more brash and angry than usual, trying to prove that he’s the </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span> Black, that Regulus’ induction into the Death Eaters will not compromise him as an agent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Peter retreated into himself, became small and unnoticed as a rat. He becomes quieter and quicker and cleverer than he had ever been, even while shadows were starting to gather in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus himself threw himself into Order work. Everyone else suspected him of being a spy, everyone else constantly eyed him and whispered behind closed doors about him. He told himself, day in and day out, that he just had to prove himself, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>then</span>
  </em>
  <span> he’d be one of them for real. He just had to complete this mission, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>then</span>
  </em>
  <span> they’d see his worth. He just had to save their lives more often, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>then</span>
  </em>
  <span> they’d forgive him for his nature.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>James, though, remained optimistic and sunny- though that might just have been because he had finally gotten to go on a date with Lily, which put him in a good mood for a solid month.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The end of the year came quickly, for once, and Remus found that he didn’t want it to end. Didn’t want to get on the boats and sail back to the Hogwarts Express for the last time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they waited to board the train that would take them to their future, the four Marauders standing in a line, Peter turned to the others. “How long do you think it’ll take them to forget all about us?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’ll forget about us by Halloween,” Remus predicted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you kidding?” James laughed, throwing one arm around Remus’ shoulders and the other around Sirius’. “The Marauder name is going to live forever!”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>NOW:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus wasn’t expecting the destruction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course he knew that James and Lily were dead. Everyone was celebrating it, celebrating Harry’s miraculous survival, laughing and joking and ignoring Remus’ ties to them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he’d first heard, he’d thought he had heard wrong. James and Lily couldn’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>dead</span>
  </em>
  <span>. They’d been so full of life. They had a son. They couldn’t be dead. They had to look after Harry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time he gets to Godric’s Hollow, shaking from the sick feeling of dread in his stomach, he’s too late, and James is dead and Lily is dead and Peter is dead and Sirius is a traitor and Harry is gone forever and Remus is the last one, standing alone in the ruins of Godric’s Hollow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus Lupin stands alone, and the Marauder name is gone.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Greta Catchlove is a real character, apparently. I Googled her.<br/>I don’t know if this story is supported by canon and tbh I don’t care. What did you think?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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